Monday, November 12, 2012

I am excited... and terrified

The 7-Up distributor in town went out of business years ago, and the various buildings connected with it have sat vacant ever since. Then, a few months ago, one of them was painted a hideous acid-green color and occupied by an animal rescue group.

I had told them that we would rescue a West Highland terrier, or a
small terrier mix of that type, or a Schnauzer, or...

And they called me
on Saturday and said they had a purebred Schnauzer.

I saw this little silvery dog dog yesterday when I stopped by the place after church. I fell in love her. How could I not.

They put her in a room with some cats, and she showed no interest. They stuck a young kitten in front of her and she sniffed at it and the kitten bared it claws and she backed off. I know the cat is not going to be happy, but I was reasonably convinced the dog would not try to hunt down the cat and eat her.

Today I paid the adoption fee and bought a sack of food at the feed store of the variety that the dogs at the rescue center are currently being fed. Tomorrow I will pick up this dog, who is about a year old.

She is a sweet little thing. In fact, I suspect we will end up calling her "Sweetie" or "Sweetie-pie."

Our first dog died in 2003 (on our son's birthday, as it happens), so it has been quite a while since we have owned a dog. Our first dog was practically perfect in every way. I hope this one will be too.

About Me

We (husband, son, and I) left the West Coast and moved East in 1981 to the Missouri Ozarks and took up country living on an old 8-acre farm on the outskirts of Willow Springs. I try to to greet each day with joy, despite circumstances that aren't always so joyful, to be grateful for the blessings of life, and to keep myself lined up with God's plans. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Thanks for visiting!

Thoughts to ponder

Most of us go through life so absorbed in the cocoon of ourselves that we rarely stop to consider the other. Of course, we think that we do; indeed, we may pride ourselves on our capacity for empathy; we may be considerate and thoughtful in our dealings with others, but how often do we stand before them. so to speak, and experience what it is to be them?--Domenica Macdonald

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, by Alexander McCallSmith

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Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering -- because you can't take it in all at once. --Audrey Hepburn

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I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all, I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.--Agatha Christie

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Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh.--Katharine Hepburn